Larry Shenk, Vice President of Alumni Relations, shares his notes, quotes and anecdotes from the world of baseball.

Trade Time Coming

July 20, 2007

91

The most hyped trading deadline in professional sports is coming soon. 4 p.m. (EDT) on Tuesday, July 31, to be exact. Baseball General Managers are busy making lists and checking them twice in hopes of making moves.

Some teams may move players to get younger or reduce payroll, others may shore up for the pennant race over the last two months.

Pitching is the hot commodity. That is the primary commodity on the Phillies’ list. Getting some help will not be easy because the demand for pitchers simply outdistances the supply.

Pat Gillick is a phone-burner. Weekly conference calls are held with Pat, his staff, major league pro scouts and the team’s pro coverage scouts. In addition to checking out talent, scouts are also on intelligence missions trying to uncover inside information.

Finding a fit with another team isn’t always easy. Oh, it is easy to take a yellow pad and make trades.

Rumor mills will churn daily. The internet will be infested with rumors.

Gossip indicates player movement will be very slow.

Here’s something that isn’t gossip. The 91 number at the top of this epic? That’s the number of pitchers who were on disabled lists of major league baseball clubs as of this morning. Granted, some of those pitchers would be in the minors if they were healthy. It just goes to show how scarce pitching is these days.

A-rod would be nice because he would complete our infield but other than that keeeep rowand and get rid of burrell and and alll the pitchers besides moyer,hamels,kendrick because other than those 3 the pitching staff for the phillies *****

Although I am a big fan of Aaron Rowand, I would suggest trading Rowand only if we can get a good relief or starter since pitching is our greatest need. We know Burrell isn’t going anywhere and right now Rowand is so hot we should be able to get someone good for him. Also Rowand is a free agent at the end of the season so we need to trade him now in order to benefit from the trade and also avoid another hefty contract.

Rumor has it Joe Breitweiser, a fantastic pitcher and good hitter as well, from Northeast High School (Google him) is trying out for the Phillies on July 30th. Now he is a hot young talent that should be on board.

Meta

The following are trademarks or service marks of Major League Baseball entities and may be used only with permission of Major League Baseball Properties, Inc. or the relevant Major League Baseball entity: Major League, Major League Baseball, MLB, the silhouetted batter logo, World Series, National League, American League, Division Series, League Championship Series, All-Star Game, and the names, nicknames, logos, uniform designs, color combinations, and slogans designating the Major League Baseball clubs and entities, and their respective mascots, events and exhibitions.